McGavin Farm Supply unveils electric vehicle power station

McGavin Farm supply in Walton became a stop on the Sun Country Highway and the first agricultural retailer to install an electric power station when they unveiled their fixture on Tuesday, Oct. 9.

Electric vehicle owners can fill up their vehicle with a nozzle that clicks into the electric tank and sends a diagnostic signal to the car to accept.

Sun County Highway provided the unit to businesses around Huron County for no monthly cost, but they did have to pay for the installation of the unit.

“From a business perspective it doesn’t make a lot of sense right now, but we are looking to the future,” said Brian McGavin owner and operator of the farm supply company.

The McGavins have known Bruce and Kent Rathwell of Brucefield, for many years and Kent being president and founder of Sun Country Highway “put a bug in our ear,” said McGavin.

He hopes that as full-size electric trucks become more popular farmers will be stopping in for a top up on their charge and might look around their lot and showroom while they wait.

“We wanted to do our part for Huron County… as more and more initiatives go green, the general public will move that way as well,” he said.

“We’ll see how this plays out.”

So far, those filling up won’t need to pull out their credit cards either. Which puts the company’s trans Canada highway on the map. Tourists could rent electric cars and travel coast to coast without spending a dime.

“We didn’t want to create a disincentive for people considering electric,” Christopher Misch, vice president of Sun Country Highway, said adding electric vehicles are already a huge investment for people looking to go emission free.

He does admit that metres will eventually be installed so that businesses can charge for the electricity as electric vehicles become more popular, citing predictions that 1 in 20 vehicles by 2020 will be electric.

The company also brought the first full size electric truck onto Canadian soil as part of their fleet, which will travel with the company over the next few weeks as Sun Country Highway unveils their cross-country electric stations.
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